 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: am0032
Date: 2016-10-04 08:21
I'm currently dealing with an issue in my right hand. In descending passages where I put down right fingers in succession(g, f, e, d, c) there is a delay when attempting to put my right ring finger down. This happens in similar combinations but mostly descending single ring finger patterns. I know it's a tension issue of some sort. Any help that can be offered in fixing this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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Author: pewd
Date: 2016-10-04 17:16
There are 2 screws holding down the lower joint ring key on most clarinets - take a small screwdriver and back off the screws 1/2 turn and see what happens. It is possible the screws are simply too tight.
Otherwise, take it to a music store for repair. It could be a bent key, or perhaps other issues.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2016-10-04 18:13
Make sure that the finger moves only from the knuckle and doesn't curl from the other joints. Also make sure that your "up" muscles are not working against the "down" ones. Finally, watch in a mirror to see what may be interfering with your finger movement.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2016-10-04 19:16
This doesn't sound like an instrument problem, unless the ring around that hole is at a greater height than the other rings (which you could check visually.)
Do you have any other symptoms involving that finger? There's a physical problem often called "trigger finger", where tendons develop enlarged nodes that don't slide normally through their sheaths. This affects bending or straightening of fingers (or thumbs.) There can be various manifestations and severities. Sometimes fingers can lock in one position and only move with pain; in less severe cases it may feel like a slight binding - and hesitation.
Otherwise it's probably a neuromuscular coordination thing. Then, if it were me, I'd practice exercises that involve that finger, like trills and other interval combinations that use the finger and adjacent fingers. G-A, G-B, G-Bb etc.; G#-A etc.; F#-A etc. Etc.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2016-10-05 00:38
Try some simple finger exercise away from the clarinet.
e.g. Rest all the finger trips on a table surface and then try alternately lifting each finger and dropping it again.
also try trilling the fingers.
You can also try more complex patterns using 2 or more fingers.
Try and keep a very steady and regular rythm and don't go faster than even.
The tendons of the ring finger are I believe tied in some way (common sheath?) to the second so it is important to exercise for complete indepedence between these fingers.
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2016-10-05 00:47
>> I'm currently dealing with an issue in my right hand. In descending passages where I put down right fingers in succession(g, f, e, d, c) there is a delay when attempting to put my right ring finger down. This happens in similar combinations but mostly descending single ring finger patterns.>>
So, it can't be an instrument problem, as has already been said.
>> I know it's a tension issue of some sort.>>
I want to argue against that. I'd say that your assumption, though quite widespread of its sort in the world of clarinet advice, isn't useful to you.
That's because it's a TIMING issue, as you describe it. And timing issues live in a different world from tension issues.
I'd deal with it in the 'timing' world by, first, 'doing' what you don't want:
G, F, E, D, C in the rhythm of a 4/4 bar: G F eighth notes; E D dotted eighth and sixteenth; C quarter and then quarter rest; repeat.
Then, when that seems OK, do the opposite:
G, F, E, D, C in the rhythm lf a 4/4 bar: G F eighth notes; E D sixteenth and dotted eighth; C quarter and then quarter rest; repeat.
Another way of getting out of the world of 'tension' is to do this using SLOW finger movements. You can see that in the first exercise, RH4, playing the C, doesn't need to move fast; it just needs to arrive shortly after RH3. It can have begun to move earlier than that. And in the second exercise, RH3 doesn't need to move fast; it just needs to arrive shortly after RH2.
When you play these exercises fluently, the sequence just seems to be part of ONE gesture of the right hand.
And when you want the EVEN run, the overall experience is the same.
I wrote a post about slow fingers; it's at:
http://test.woodwind.org/Databases/lookup.php/Klarinet/2000/02/000399.txt
Tony
Post Edited (2016-10-05 01:46)
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